Advanced automatic braking systems to be standard on new cars by 2029

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

TRANSPORTATION
Advanced automatic braking systems to be standard on new cars by 2029

New federal car safety rules would require cars to have technology to avoid hitting pedestrians and other vehicles, even at high speeds

By Ian Duncan
April 29, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. EDT

Federal safety standards issued Monday will require new cars to have automatic emergency brakes that can bring them to a complete stop without crashing or hitting pedestrians even at high speeds, saving hundreds of lives a year.

Automakers will have until the fall of 2029 to comply, but officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they expect the industry to be able to deploy the systems ahead of the deadline.

“Automatic emergency braking is proven to save lives and reduce serious injuries from frontal crashes, and this technology is now mature enough to require it in all new cars and light trucks,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said in a statement. “In fact, this technology is now so advanced that we’re requiring these systems to be even more effective at higher speeds and to detect pedestrians.”

The rules are one of the most significant changes to car safety standards in years and are being issued in the midst of a road safety crisis that saw 41,000 people killed in 2023. Automakers have been installing a lower-speed version of automatic emergency brakes in almost their entire fleet under a deal struck during the Obama administration. But the new regulations are aimed at ensuring far higher performing systems become the standard, and have faced objections from the industry.

{snip}

By Ian Duncan
Ian Duncan is a reporter covering federal transportation agencies and the politics of transportation. He previously worked at the Baltimore Sun for seven years, covering city hall, the military and criminal justice. He was part of the Sun's team covering Freddie Gray's death in 2015 and then-Mayor Catherine Pugh's Healthy Holly books scandal. Twitter https://twitter.com/iduncan

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2024/04/29/automatic-brakes-nhtsa-rule/

[2naSalit]

1. I am very...

Skeptical about that. People should either work on their driving skills or choose not to drive. Making cars that "do" things for the driver are never safer, like anti-lock brakes. I either buy cars without them or disable them, they are dangerous to drivers who actually are skilled at driving.

[The Wandering Harper]

4. if I knew then what I know now

I would have looked for a car without ABS last time. Never had one before and when it activated the first time the feel in the brake pedal startled my foot off it. Then it stopped working, lighting up the dashboard like a christmas tree. And I'd be fine with that if it didn't complicate passing inspection

[truthisfreedom]

9. Anti-lock brakes are great if you know you have them

Wonderful invention that works. Just slam on the brakes.

[2naSalit]

11. Not on snowy roads...

They just lock up, not only the brakes but steering and everything else, totally takes control away. Every anti-lock system I have ever seen does this.

[truthisfreedom]

13. I've lived in Minnesota for 64 years, driven for 48 years here

And antilock brakes work perfectly for me. If you can’t stop with antilock brakes in snow, you can’t stop without antilock. You need chains at that point. I have them.

[2naSalit]

14. I have driven...

For at least fifty years, 20 professionally, and I have never had to sling chains on any vehicle, ever. And I have never had an accident or been stuck in snow whether I was in a car or a semi. And i ran around the lakes for years as well as the Rocky Mountains. Those braking systems are an abomination.

You can use them if they work for you but I choose to avoid them like any other unsafe thing in life.

[Mawspam2]

2. Bad idea.

I have driven semis with that "feature". I know what it is like to be driving on a snow-covered interstate at speed when, with no warning, the truck emergency brakes for an overpass.

[Kennah]

3. AI is no match for NS

AI=Artificial Intelligence
NS=Natural Stupidity

[Aussie105]

5. The feature has better be foolproof!

No phantom braking, for instance.

You are doing 70 MPH and some suicidal person jumps out of the bushes 5 yards in front of you.
Physics says he/she is dead.

[Woodwizard]

6. I dread getting my next vehicle.

Going to keep my 2009 stick shift roll down window Tacoma for as long as possible. I do my own vehicle work and like them as simple. I actually use it for a truck.

Looking at most modern trucks there is not even a manual transmission offered on most.

[dembotoz]

7. reason number 74598621 of why i can not afford a new car

this sounds expensive and hard to fix.

if you are in a snow storm and the sensor gets covered, will the car stop in the middle of the road?

[Mawspam2]

10. if you are in a snow storm and the sensor gets covered, will the car stop in the middle of the road?

Actually, no. The truck I had used both bumper radar for braking and windshield cameras for lane detection.

Once the bumper radar is covered, a warning light comes on and automatic braking is disabled. That info is also recorded in the on-board "black box" and also sent to the fleet manager by satellite.

[TeamProg]

8. And we still can't get people to wear seatbelts all the time. Quick Google facts:

1. One in 10 people don't wear seat belts in the front seat, despite estimates that seat belts saved 14,955 lives in the last year for which complete data was available. Drivers and passengers who don't buckle up account for 43% of deaths in traffic accidents.

2. New Hampshire has the lowest seat belt usage rate — by far — at 71%. The state doesn’t require drivers 18 and older to buckle up. Hawaii has the highest seat belt usage rate at 97%.

[Igel]

12. Two points.

1. More expensive vehicles.

2. More things to break, so more expensive maintenance.

(We'll skip "mandatory loss of autonomy".)